-Cardboard maker DS Smith posted an 80% surge in first-half profit and declared a higher interim dividend on Thursday, helped by strong demand from fast-moving consumer goods makers and resilient supplies to the e-commerce market.
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The London-based company, which provides packaging, paper and recycling services, navigated the pandemic-led disruptions better as it shifted to tapping a growing demand for recyclable boxes while also benefiting from the boom in online shopping.
Pretax profit at DS Smith, which supplies packaging products to customers including Amazon, Nestle and Unilever, rose to 175 million pounds ($231 million), from 97 million pounds a year earlier.
"We are continuing to benefit from a very dynamic market with demand for packaging for different retail solutions evolving rapidly ... Our supply chains have remained secure and the significant increases in input costs have been mitigated," Chief Executive Officer Miles Roberts said in a statement.
The company increased its interim dividend by 20% to 4.8 pence per share, and said it was confident about delivering a "significant improvement" in profitability during the second half of the fiscal year, in line with its expectations.
Revenue for the six months ended Oct. 31 rose 16% to 3.36 billion pounds.
($1 = 0.7572 pounds)